Apple Closes All Stores Outside China for Two Weeks Because of Coronavirus
Apple is shutting down its practically 500 retail shops worldwide exterior of China till March 27 in an effort to reduce the unfold of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The transfer was introduced late Friday in an announcement by CEO Tim Cook dinner. Within the Larger China area, the place the COVID-19 outbreak first erupted, Apple had shut down its retail shops beginning in early February, and had reopened all 42 of them by Friday, March 13.
Based on Cook dinner, it discovered from its expertise in China that “the simplest approach to reduce danger of the virus’s transmission is to scale back density and maximize social distance. As charges of recent infections proceed to develop elsewhere, we’re taking further steps to guard our staff members and prospects.”
As such, Apple is closing all retail shops exterior of Larger China till March 27. The corporate had 510 shops worldwide on the finish of 2019. The corporate will proceed to function its on-line shops, in addition to the App Retailer. For service and assist, prospects can go to assist.apple.com.
The shop closures are prone to additional depress Apple’s gross sales for the present quarter, which ends March 28. The tech big had warned buyers in mid-February that it will miss income targets for the March 2020 quarter due to coronavirus-related disruptions. In China, iPhone gross sales plummeted 61% in February, per authorities information.
COPYRIGHT_BP: Published on https://bingepost.com/apple-closes-all-stores-outside-china-for-two-weeks-because-of-coronavirus/61662/ by Cecilia Jones on 2020-03-14T13:35:38.000Z
On Thursday, Apple introduced its annual Worldwide Builders Convention (WWDC) in June would happen as an online-only occasion.
Amongst different steps Apple is taking in response to COVID-19, it’s transferring to “versatile work preparations” all over the place exterior of Larger China, which suggests workers “ought to work remotely if their job permits, and people whose work requires them to be on website ought to observe steerage to maximise interpersonal area,” Cook dinner mentioned within the assertion. All staff paid on an hourly foundation will proceed to obtain pay “in alignment with enterprise as typical operations,” he added.
Up to now, Apple to this point has dedicated $15 million worldwide in donations to the worldwide COVID-19 response, in line with Cook dinner. The corporate is matching worker donations two-to-one to assist response efforts to the pandemic regionally, nationally and internationally.
(Pictured above: The Apple Downtown Brooklyn retailer in New York Metropolis)
